Cold
by BatFlashAquaven11
Summary: A familiar and unwelcome face from Wally's past shows up again. Triggers: Child Abuse/Abandonment
1. Chapter 1

It had been almost ten minutes since the Justice League had been called to Metropolis. Reports came in about a 100-meter tall "metal monster" that shot lasers from its "eyes". It didn't seem to be doing anything other than destroying property and ruining the day of some civilians. So far, it had only damaged two city blocks, and the team was doing their best to stop the robot and limit the damage. Hawkgirl landed a solid blow to its abdomen with her mace while Green Lantern dodged a beam from the machine.

"Where does something like this even come from?!" He shouted before concentrating on making a bright green mallet. He struck the robot with it, but little damage was done. Superman snuck up behind the monster, eyes glowing red with heat. Twin beams shot out, but did nothing to their target besides leave a black mark. He glared, remembering the damage that had already been done to Clark Kent's apartment.

"This has Luthor written all over it."

"You think?" Hawkgirl asked, dodging another blast from it's eyes.

"Lord knows he can afford it." John replied.

"Do you guys ever think about how high up he goes when he washes his face? You know, since he's bald and all that."

"Flash, focus."

"Sorry, Bats!"

Another fifteen minutes of trying to defeat the monster had gotten them nowhere. By now, most civilians had been evacuated, but a few still remained. They had managed to keep the robot onto one street for the past few minutes, so while the damage was being contained, this particular stretch of buildings had seen better days. Fires burned all around and billboards and buildings were falling left and right. The robot's giant footprints left craters in the newly paved streets. The air was thick with smoke and car alarms could be heard going off in every direction. Flash zipped back and forth on the ground, while Superman did it in the air, distracting the monstrosity. Hopefully their speed would ensure that they wouldn't get hit by a beam.

While this was going on, Batman had given a device to J'onn, who phased through the thick metal walls of the robot and secured it to its power core. Once he retreated, Diana wrapped her lasso around a lamppost before stretching it across the street and holding it taught. Batman, from a nearby rooftop, pressed a button on a remote in his belt. Almost immediately, the robot began sparking and stuttering. The malfunctioning machinery stumbled forward, tripping over Diana's lasso. As it began its descent, Flash noticed a number of civilians on the street below.

' _What part of "evacuate the city, there is a huge robot monster on the loose" do people not understand?!'_ Flash thought as he took off. He first grabbed an elderly man, moving him away from the danger before he could even see that he was ever in any. Poor guy must be confused, but no time to explain. He ran back and grabbed a little girl and what he assumed to be her mother, quickly removing them from harm's way as well. He was making great time, as he only had one person left to save and the heaping pile of metal still had at least five seconds left to fall. He'd saved the first three people in a little over one.

As he approached the man, recognition caused him to hit the breaks. His stomach dropped and his heart felt like it was stuck in his throat as he skidded to a stop. In his mind, repressed memories came rushing to the surface. The smell of alcohol, the sound of screaming. Fists flying, a firm grip in his hair, a hard thud as he hit the wall. A rare pleasant smile and the promise of a fun night at the park. The confusion as the car drove away and the taillights faded in the distance. The cold night spent outside, alone. Wally vaguely heard someone shout his name, but he couldn't focus on anything rightnow besides the man's scared face. The world quickly sped back up to normal around him, but the deafening noises seemed muffled now. He felt a mix of emotions. Fear. Anger. He noticed the robot's huge body was only meters away now, and soon they would both be crushed by its weight, but he couldn't bring himself to move.

A flash of blue and red and the man was gone, out of harm's way. Wally felt a hard shove in his left side and then felt the impact of the ground on his right. As they came to a rest on the ground, he looked up in time to see the robot smashing into the asphalt where he had been standing a moment before. He felt hands on his body, surveying and searching for any serious injury. The hands moved to his neck and his face and forced him to look at his savior.

"What happened?" That wasn't the deep, gruff voice of Batman. Even with the cowl in place, Wally knew it was the caring, worried voice of his lover, Bruce. Wally opened his mouth to reply, but couldn't bring himself to speak. Any words got stuck in his throat. There was a slight breeze as Superman landed behind him. Batman released him so he could turn to face him. Clark gently put the man in his arms down. Wally couldn't take him eyes off of him now. His slightly curly light brown hair had began to grey slightly. He stood a few inches taller than Wally, and although he looked normal enough on the outside, Wally could still see the hate in his brown eyes.

Bruce noticed Wally began to vibrate a little, and placed a hand on his shoulder with a gentle squeeze. This seemed to calm Wally, as the vibrations died down until they were unnoticeable. For some reason, this man made Wally very nervous and uncomfortable. Being the world's greatest detective, Bruce figured he'd find out why soon enough. While J'onn and Shayera examined the robot, Diana and John joined the group. Neither of them looked too happy, and it wasn't often any of the founder's looked upset with him. They were all too caring and protective of their youngest member to ever _really_ get angry at him. Annoyed, yes. Mad, not so much.

"Flash, what was that?" Diana said sternly, hands on her hips.

"I've never seen you freeze up like that. That man could've been killed!" John exclaimed. Wally glared and replied to the comment in his head.

"Would've served him right." At the shocked looks of his teammates and the slightly angry face of the man, Wally realized he must have actually said that out loud.

"What are you talking about, Flash? We save everyone we can." Clark asked, looking between the man and the redhead, trying to find a connection. He glanced at Batman too, but the man was just as confused as he was. He didn't show it, but Clark had known him long enough to be able to read him pretty well.

"Scumbags like him don't deserve it." The others were still still completely shocked at his words. This was so out of character for Wally. He always wanted to help everyone. Always saw the best in people and was the first person to hand out second chances. What about this particular man made the usually loving redhead so cold?

"What's 'yer problem? I've never done a thing to you!" The man seemed angry. Wally just scoffed angrily, rolling his eyes behind his mask before turning and speeding away. The remaining heroes all shared a look, including Shayera and J'onn, who had overheard the conversation and made their way over.

"Whatever. I'm gon' see if my hotel's still standin'. You should make him thank you for pickin' up his slack," the man said. Batman's eyes narrowed. Superman sent the man a skeptical look, as if slightly offended. Most people say thanks when he saves them, they don't criticize his friends.

"Uh, yeah. Bye, Mr..." Clark trailed off.

"West. Rudolph West."

In the short amount of time it took realization to hit them, the man had walked away.

"Is he...?" Shayera started.

"Wally's father."


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay...I know it's been a while...honestly, the only thing that even motivated me to continue this at all was the reviews it got showing me that people were actually interested (between here and AO3 it was almost 30 comments/reviews!) in reading more. Reviews actually do help! So I hope you enjoy this next part!**

Everyone's eyes were on Batman as soon as the words left his mouth.

" _That man_ is Wally's father?" John questioned, eyebrow raised. Shayera stepped forward as well.

"That can't be right. He's an orphan, his parents died..that's why he was in an orphanage all those years." She said, though she didn't seem completely sure of herself. Flash didn't talk about his past much, specifically in regards to his parents.

"He can't be-" "That's not ri-" Once the team began to argue and speak over one another, Batman quickly cut them off. They all silenced and looked to him.

"You're both right." Five questioning glances were sent his way, prompting him to explain.

"We shouldn't talk about this here." He said, paranoia slipping through as he discreetly checked his surroundings.

"But-" Shayera started, only to be cut off once again, this time with a pointed look, not quite a glare, to go along with it.

"Later. Let's go." He said, leaving no room for arguments. With a swish of his cape, he was stalking back towards to javelin, leaving the others to follow.

ooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOoo

"What are we missing here, Bruce?" The team, minus the speedster, were gathered in the conference room. Diana had suggested they wait for Wally, but he'd turned his comm link off, obviously not wanting to be bothered at the moment.

"Biologically, Rudolph West is Wally's father. His Aunt, Iris West-Allen, found him at an orphanage when she moved to Central City from Keystone." A few nods, a confused look from Shayera.

"West-Allen? As in Barry Allen, the previous Flash?" John asked. Bruce nodded.

"Barry was Wally's Uncle. He and Iris adopted him when he was 9 years old." He explained.

"I'm afraid I'm not following. If his father is alive and well, what was he doing in the orphanage at all?" Diana asked. Bruce tensed slightly; he'd been waiting for them to catch on.

 _It was only the third time that Wally and Bruce had spent the night together. Bruce wasn't ready to give them a...label...quite yet, but he would admit that he deeply cared for the redhead, more than he thought he would ever be comfortable with. Due to different patrolling schedules, their nights spent together like this were few and far between, so when the opportunity came, they took advantage of it. Said redhead had dozed off about an hour ago, curled up at Bruce's side with an arm thrown over his middle. They were both shirtless and the blanket had been thrown off, but the sheet left on. They both tend to run hot. Bruce was absentmindedly running a hand up and down the speedsters back while he watched the news on the television, making sure nothing was going on in Gotham that needed his attention. It was pointless, J'onn was watching the monitors up in the Watchtower and would let him know of any situation much sooner than the media could ever hope to, but it made him feel better all the same. The only light in the room was from the TV and the window, where the full moon was bright in the night sky. His attention was pulled away from a repeat report about a romaine lettuce recall when he felt the body next to him go stiff. He furrowed his brow but didn't react, instead waiting to see if anything else would happen._

" _I'm sorry, I didn't mean it, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please, please don't, don't hurt me, I'm sorry Dad, I'm sorry." Bruce froze when Wally mentioned his father. He knew from Barry that Wally's father had abandoned him at a park when he was a kid, and he hadn't seen him since. This sounded like something more._

" _Wally, wake up, it's me, it's Bruce. Nobody's going to hurt you. Wake up." He whispered gently, trying to wake him up without startling him. The redhead was struggling, trying to get away from an unseen evil. There was a loud gasp and a thud and Wally was across the room. He'd tapped into his speed in his sleep and in his blind attempted to get away, he'd collided with the wall. He was on the floor now, awake and confused and gasping and crying and looking back and forth until he finally saw Bruce rushing towards him. He scrambled back towards the wall, away from the large man coming towards him._

" _I'm sorry, Dad, I'm sorry, please, please don't, I'm sorry." He was mumbling, looking anywhere but at Bruce and trying to make himself as small as possible. Bruce stopped and thought for a moment before sitting on the ground across from him, keeping a distance._

" _Wally," He whispered, "Wally, it's Bruce. I'm not going to hurt you. Look at me. I would never hurt you." A few more seconds of coaxing and finally Wally looked up, made eye contact with Bruce. He recognized him and let out a sigh of relief, all the tension leaving his panicked body at once and he slumped against the wall. Bruce slowly crawled toward him, not wanting to startle him. Without a word, he sat next to the redhead and pulled Wally into his arms. A few moments passed before Wally breathed out an apology._

" _Nothing to be sorry for." Bruce replied, stroking his hair. They were both sitting/lying on the hardwood floor of the bedroom with no intention of moving anytime soon._

 _After nearly an hour, Bruce finally spoke. He almost wished he hadn't._

" _Wally, there's something you're not telling me, isn't there?" He said. Silence followed and if it wasn't for the still uneven breaths coming from the speedster, he may have thought he'd fallen asleep. A few more moments, and finally he felt Wally nod against his chest. He took a deep breath before asking._

" _You're father...he hurt you, didn't he?" A tense moment, followed by another nod. Bruce said nothing, just wrapped his arms tighter around the younger man and pressed a reassuring kiss to the top of his head. They'd deal with this another time. Right now, he just wanted Wally to know that he was safe with him._

Batman looked around the room at his colleagues, who were waiting for an answer.

"That... isn't my story to tell. What I will say is...he was much better off."

ooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOoo

Wally had just finished lap number 978 around the indoor track in the Watchtower training room when he heard the door open. He felt another presence in the room with him and a quick glance told him it was Bruce. Instead of stopping, he elected to finish his laps. 979, 980, 981...

Bruce watched silently as the red and yellow streak circled the room. He knew he'd find him here, running was one of the ways for him to calm his nerves. Other times, the speed was the cause of his anxiety, and what he needed was to slow down. J'onn, Diana, and an old friend of his and Dick, Raven, had been working with him on meditation. Bruce let him run a few more laps before interrupting.

"You're going to wear a trench in the floor again." This time the blur came to a stop a few yards in front of him, bent over and slightly out of breath. After a moment, he straightened up, right hand rubbing at a cramp in his side.

"Can't have that now, can we?" He joked as he reached up and grabbed the base of his cowl, pulling it off. He send Bruce a wink as he reached for his water bottle.

"Moving a little slow there, I could almost see you..." Bruce continued, keeping his tone light.

"Well I _have_ been slacking off recently,.." he said with an eye roll and a smirk. He knew that Bruce knew how hard he'd been working to increase his speed and hone his skills. This run wasn't for training, it was purely to burn off steam.

"It shows...you're in...terrible shape..." He said jokingly, distractedly, as he watched Wally peel his sweaty uniform top off, exposing his toned abdominal muscles. He wasn't as heavily muscled as the other men in the League, but just as capable. Large muscles like theirs weren't necessary when your speciality was speed and agility. When he put his speed behind him, he could be just as strong as them, with maybe the exception of Superman.

Finally, Wally walked up to Bruce, who was still standing in the same spot he'd been when he'd finished running. Without a word he wrapped an arm around the dark haired man's neck and pulled him into a firm and filthy kiss. Bruce's arm wrapped around his waist while the other buried itself in the mop of red hair on his lover's head. Finally the speedster pulled away, smirking.

"We should talk."

Just like that, the smirk, as well as the light atmosphere in the room, was gone.

"There's nothing to talk about." Wally said, breaking eye contact with Bruce and stepping out of his grasp and away from him. He turned away, reaching for his water bottle and taking another drink. He leaned against a wall for leverage as he pulled his signature yellow boots off.

"What happened today says otherwise." Bruce retorted, crossing his arms over his chest.

"What happened?" Wally asked, feigning innocence. He avoided eye contact and acted as if everything was fine, clearly trying to avoid the conversation.

"Wally." Bruce said sternly, and suddenly Wally was talking to Batman. The speedster sighed, admitting defeat.

"Okay, fine. We'll talk about it. But not right now, okay?" He stepped into the men's locker room and turned on the hot water of one of the showers. Bruce had followed him to the door. He stepped back out, a sly look on his handsome face. He placed finger on bat symbol on Bruce's chest.

"Right now...I could use some help burning off some more steam...if ya' know what I mean..."

The finger had trailed up until his hand rested on his collarbone, fingers expertly unlatching the cape so it fell to the floor around the feet. The serious Bruce quickly faded away as arousal took its place.

He went to say something but Wally was quick to quiet him with a finger to his lips.

"Shh...Supes might hear," With a wink he was gone. The bottom of Wally's uniform was thrown out the door of the locker room, and that was the last push Bruce needed. With an eye roll - but a smile on his face - he followed.

 **If you are interested in more chapters, please let me know! I don't want to waste my time writing if no one cares haha**


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